Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

On the Deputy's overall point on the cost of living, over the past 12 months, the Government has responded swiftly and strongly to cushion the impact of prices on households, businesses and farmers, with supports of up to €12 billion. That is not an inconsiderable sum of money by any yardstick. The Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, found that the one-off measures we announced as part of budget 2023 insulated most households from rising energy prices last winter. I acknowledge that people are under pressure and the cost of living is a big issue for them. However, over the past year, our measures supported people, particularly those on fixed incomes, including pensioners, carers and people living with a disability. There were eight lump-sum payments in 2023 alone: the double child benefit payment; the autumn double payment; the €400 lump-sum fuel allowance payment; the €500 lump-sum payment to families receiving the working family payment; the €500 lump-sum payment to people in receipt of disability allowance, the blind pension or the invalidity pension; the €200 lump-sum payment to people in receipt of the living alone allowance; the €500 lump-sum payment to carers; and the Christmas double payment. I could go on. The weekly social welfare pension rates went up by €12. There were three €200 energy credits over the winter months. There were many interventions. Those interventions were unprecedented because we had an unprecedented energy crisis, caused mainly, as we are well aware, by both post-Covid supply and demand problems and the war in Ukraine. We have further problems now with the reduction in production by some of the big oil producers, which is causing a significant rise in the cost of fuel. The Government will examine the cost-of-living issues in the context of the forthcoming budget. In essence, a combination of the budget and a cost-of-living package will again endeavour and work to ease pressure on people, especially in the winter months and in respect of pressure they are coming under as a result of price increases.

The Deputy mentioned housing. The bottom line is that 2022 saw the highest level of delivery of new-build social housing since 1975. More than 10,000 social homes were delivered last year and we are heading towards an even larger number this year. A total of 26,000 social houses alone have been provided since the Government came to office. That timeframe includes the Covid period, when construction was suspended on a number of occasions. There has been significant progress on housing but we have a long way to go and more to do in that regard.

When it comes to the specifics of what we will do, we are not going to go the Liz Truss way or the way of the British Conservative Party in how it dealt with the price increase crisis last year. We saw what happened there. However, we will work to alleviate pressures on the public, including people in need as a result of price increases.

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